Communist Party elders urge end to China's censorship

Twenty-three senior Communist Party members have published a
letter calling for sweeping reforms of China's media censorship policies.
"Our core demand is that the system of censorship be dismantled in favor
of a system of legal responsibility," the letter said, according to an English translation by Hong
Kong University's China Media Project. Widely distributed by e-mail and posted
on the Sina news portal, the
letter started appearing on Monday, according to news reports. Titled
"Concerning the Current State of Freedom of Speech and Press in Our
Country," the letter is signed in large part by retired party elders,
many of whom held ranking positions in the media.

The letter is frank in its
discussion of the role of the Central Propaganda Department in controlling the
flow of news, something we
have written about often. Criticism of state censorship is not new, but the
authors use stronger language than most. The letter also offers a glimpse into the
state's powerful and opaque censorship apparatus:

. . . if we endeavor to find
those responsible, we are utterly incapable of putting our finger on a specific
person. This is an invisible black hand. For their own reasons, they violate
our constitution, often ordering by telephone that the works of such and such a
person cannot be published, or that such and such an event cannot be reported
in the media. The officials who make the call do not leave their names, and the
secrecy of the agents is protected, but you must heed their phone instructions.
These invisible black hands are our Central Propaganda Department. Right now
the Central Propaganda Department is placed above the Central Committee of the
Communist Party, and above the State Council.

The letter may be an incarnation
of a gradual movement toward greater media freedom in China. The prominent journalist
Li Datong, who edited the China Youth Daily supplement Freezing
Point until his 2006 dismissal over a controversial article, calls it a "drip by drip" progression. In
May 2007, Li addressed the Society of Publishers in Asia on the future of
Chinese news media. As with this week's letter from party elders, Li's speech is
important reading for anyone interested in journalism in China. Here is an
excerpt:

Chinese
media are evolving. They are in the process, as we say in Chinese, of
'tunneling through stone drip by drip.' This evolution may, perhaps, lack
dramatic action. It may not command attention. But as someone who has
participated in and observed this evolution, I know it is real, and that it
cannot easily be reversed. Don't get me wrong. The traditional system of media
controls in China
grinds on. Many of the most important political topics in contemporary China cannot be
talked about openly. News that authorities deem harmful to the legitimacy of
their rule is suppressed.

The power
and legitimacy of China's
censors have already been questioned publicly, and actions to close newspapers
or ban books have met with an unprecedented degree of public resistance,
forcing compromise on the part of authorities. This should make us feel
encouraged. I believe the yearning for freedom of speech in China has never
been more powerful than it is today. If journalists in China persist in upholding their professional
conscience, if they work tenaciously to expand the space for truth, I believe
the day when we truly enjoy freedom of expression in China, as guaranteed in our
constitution, will not tarry much longer.

This week's letter from party
members comes just as the government suppressed news that human rights activist
Liu Xiaobo had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Analysts such as the China
Media Project's David Bandurski say the letter is not likely connected to the Nobel
Prize.

But there is interesting symmetry.
News of Liu's award remains all but excised
from official media, as we noted in our alert on October 8. Liu, 54, was jailed for distributing
something similar to the letter from the Communist Party elders. He was arrested inDecember 2008, the
day beforehe and a group of academics published Charter '08, a
manifesto that demanded civil liberties, judicial independence, and the end to
the Communist Party's hold on state power.

Bob Dietz, coordinator of CPJ’s Asia Program, has reported across the continent for news outlets such as CNN and Asiaweek. He has led numerous CPJ missions, including ones to Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka. Follow him on Twitter @cpjasia and Facebook @ CPJ Asia Desk.